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Substation fire triggers citywide blackout
A fire at a San Francisco electrical substation on Saturday afternoon knocked out power to over 100,000 customers, utility provider PG&E confirmed. The company described the damage as "significant and extensive" in a statement released shortly after the outage began.
Waymo vehicles stall on streets
Videos shared on social media showed Waymo self-driving taxis immobilized in intersections and mid-block, hazard lights flashing. Traffic quickly backed up as motorists maneuvered around the stationary vehicles.
Waymo initially suspended all Bay Area service but later resumed operations, a company spokesperson told reporters. The majority of active trips were completed before vehicles were returned to depots or pulled to the side of the road.
"While the Waymo Driver is designed to treat non-functional signals as four-way stops, the sheer scale of the outage led to instances where vehicles remained stationary longer than usual to confirm the state of the affected intersections."
Waymo spokesperson
The prolonged stops "contributed to traffic friction during the height of the congestion," the spokesperson added.
City scrambles to manage gridlock
With traffic lights dark across large sections of the city, Mayor Daniel Lurie dispatched police officers, firefighters, and municipal crews to direct vehicles. Several commuter rail lines and stations also suspended service until power was restored.
Power restoration timeline
By Sunday afternoon, PG&E had restored electricity to all but 17,000 customers. The utility projected full service would be back by Monday afternoon.
Waymo's expanding footprint
Owned by Google's parent company, Waymo operates robotaxis in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Austin, Atlanta, Miami, and other Texas cities. The company announced plans to launch in London and Washington, D.C., in 2026. In 2025, Waymo reported over 14 million rides-triple the number from the previous year.
